Will a “Contemporary” Marital Relationship Mature in Japan?

Divorce in contemporary Japan.

Data from the 1985-86 Japanese census are analysed to explore the determinants of the divorce rates in Japan's forty-seven prefectures, using two theoretical models: (a) the social integration model, which is shown to have a greater utility in predicting Japanese divorce levels than (b), the human capital model. Female emigration patterns play a significant role in affecting the divorce rate. P...

Legal Reform in Contemporary Japan

Is the Contemporary Account of Weakness of Will Complete?

Before an outstanding article in 1999 by Richard Holton, weakness of will was identified as an agent's action contrary to his or her better judgment, while other better choices are available. The contemporary account of weakness of will (i.e., Holton’s theory) explains it in terms of intention. Accordingly, weakness of will happens if an agent fails to stick to his or her previously formed inte...

Documentation Center on Contemporary Japan (

W ith repeated political corruption and scandals as well as opaque alliances and split political parties and factions, the political world of Japan has appeared particularly dismal in the past ten years. Some now perceive it as a “lost decade” in politics. Political cynicism has gradually deepened, but citizen participation in politics has grown active over the Internet despite simultaneously d...

Free will in context: a contemporary philosophical perspective.

Philosophical work on free will is inevitably framed by the problem of free will and determinism. This paper offers an overview of the current state of the philosophical art. Early sections focus on quantum indeterminism, an outline of the most influential logical argument for incompatibilism between free will and determinism, and telling problems that face incompatibilism. A major portion of t...